Monkey - journey to the west

Yesterday I went to see Monkey - Journey to the West. It's being shown at the O2 dome in Greenwich and as we followed the signs on the floor the path split in to two, one direction for whatever was being shown in the main arena, and one for those going to see Monkey. Ushers were standing calling out the directions for each, and I had to laugh at the fact that they were basically shouting and pointing "Monkey - to the left!" at every Chinese face walking down the path... and quite rightly too as I have to admit I don't think a single Oriental person walking towards them was there to see whatever was on in the arena!

Now I've never seen the tv show, (much to the shock and surprise of some people) although I have seen 70's/80's TV show, Monkey Magic, which is along the same story line, so I didn't have tons of knowledge on the ancient 16th century Chinese tale. The opera, which is sung in Mandarin, was written by Damon Albarn (of 90's indie band Blur and recent animated band the Gorillaz) and the music had both a traditional Chinese operatic feel as well as that electro-funky Gorillaz twist to it. The acting on stage was interspersed with animated cartoon sections created by the same artist, James Hewlett, who is responsible for the Gorillaz music videos, and had that slight gritty stylised feel that is associated with his work.

The opera tells the story of Monkey, who is born from a stone egg, and wants to become immortal. After being imprisoned by Buddha for 500 years for rebelling against the gods and distrupting the heavenly peach banquet, he joins Tripitaka the monk, horse, Sandy the sea monster and Pigsy the pig on a journey to India to get back the sacred scriptures for Buddha to make amends for past errors.

The opera is visually stunning, with beautiful set design and amazing acrobatics, contortionists, martial arts fight scenes and dancing. The alluring spider woman hanging from the ceiling from two drapes of cloth without safety harnesses was awe inspiring, and Monkey's fighting skills with the staff were brilliant. The singing is both beautiful and entertaining, swinging from the traditional lilting Chinese operatic female solos of  Guanyin, the female goddess, to almost communistic chanted rousing songs of the heavenly army, all with an electronic funky background beat. Although the opera is sung in Mandarin, subtitles are projected onto the walls on either side of the stage. This does mean you tend to flick your eyes between reading and trying to catch the action on stage, and at some points you have to read quite fast as the text flashes past quite quickly.

Considering I had no idea what to expect of a Chinese opera written by a 90's brit pop indie boy band member, I was exceptionally and happily surprised. I can't recommend it enough. Even if you have no experience of Chinese culture or theatre, you will still enjoy this show.